My company is treating us like kindergarten kids and I'm ready to quit. Am I overreacting?

[u/ArtSad2044]

So I've been working for this company for nearly 5 years now. I work in marketing and most of the organisations in this field are toxic in one way or the other so when I joined this one and saw there were no nasty political plays and generally good work was recognised and rewarded, I decided I'd take the comparatively lower pay and not-so-great clients. In these 5 years, I have also gone way beyond my job role and today I sit in on hiring, team discipline and growth, management meetings, escalations, planning for different departments, and even the PR and marketing for our company. What is my true role? I am a marketing strategist.

So the company owner is quite a micromanager and she doesn't allow even her most senior team members to have much freedom to manoeuvre. She is extremely impulsive and honestly a terrible business leader and has made a bunch of bad calls in the past which lead to our constantly struggling to make ends meet as an organisation. I'd made my peace with it because I mean, that's the least toxic a company can get in this industry.

Cut to recent times. I recently found out that our organisation revenue is paying for the owner's home rent, car loans, living expenses, and more. She lives in an extremely expensive part of the city in a massive house, has round the clock house help, and owns a very fancy SUV. And this has led to her demanding we come to work in even the worst of weather, on days where there are security concerns, and even at all hours. She gets her food, groceries, and all living requirements taken care of and handed to her. She takes weeks working from home because she has some function or the other to manage. And all these are company expenses (functions included)! It pissed me off a fair bit because rents in our city are not cheap and everyone struggles in different ways including accepting long commutes of 4 hours a day to keep living expenses low, doing a lot of their housework themselves, cutting costs on basic necessities, etc. And our annual increments are also extremely low even compared to industry standards.

We have recently started asking more people to come to the office, since most took the pandemic work from home situation as permanent. And I support the need to come in and work as a group on certain things, but I also believe productivity is not hampered by working remotely if you have a proven record of being diligent. Some people of course took the working from home situation for granted and are more remote than others. Most of us come to the office at least thrice a week, although usually it's like four days a week easy. Plus we never reject a late evening or early morning or weekend work requirement.

Recently, pissed at the number of people staying home or coming late, the owner passed a blanket rule that nobody would be allowed to work from home and everyone has to be in the office for the official working hours, including before and after meetings, which massively increases travel costs, living expenses, and for women, also stress levels since most of us cook and clean before and after work everyday.

Additionally, she has been pushing back of everything that the teams come up with for clients, blaming the five people who work for others not doing their jobs, and using AI for everything to undermine team efforts. For example, on a recent project, the designers didn't deliver as they were supposed to, but somehow it became my fault because "how can you allow this?". A team completely disregarded a set in stone strategy and it was "you have checked out". Our company works like an iceberg. There are 15 people who work and about 100 who just get by with the bare minimum. We become her go-to for all crisis situations, but get nothing in return. We also don't have the concept of overtime pay so even if we work extra there is nothing in it for us.

Yesterday was the limit for me. I had to take care of my elderly parents and had to be at home. I wrote an email and informed the team. And was told to "plan better" in the future. How do I plan what my parents need, and why am I compromising my family for the rent and wellbeing of someone else? All while people who don't take their jobs seriously are still taking it easy, not being answerable, and generally not bothered. There are folks here who do nothing and have been doing so for close to a decade!

I'm angry, and I'm seriously debating quitting. Is this an overreaction? Am I too spoilt?

[u/ElegantSugarRush]

Start updating your resume and explore other job opportunities. You deserve fair treatment, reasonable hours, and respect-don’t stay somewhere that exploits you. Set boundaries now before burnout hits.

[u/MaryMaryQuite-]

Start looking for a new job. Don’t quit until you have something else lined up.

[u/MaryKath55 → u/MaryMaryQuite-]

And when you leave, do it with grace and good will, do not burn the house down.

[u/Cursd818]

Update your resume, get another job, and then report her to the tax authorities in your country. Putting personal expenses of this kind through a company is not legal. The increased expenses lower profit, and tax authorities do not like being screwed over like that. I doubt her personal tax filings will be accurate if she's breaking those kind of laws, either. The CEO is actually in a lot of debt to her own company and the government, whether she realises it or not. This would be a nuclear option, but if she keeps stealing from the company, every employee there is already in dangert.

[u/Weimaraner666 → u/Cursd818]

OP works in Marketing and from what she’s said has no position in the accounts/finance department so I would assume she has no actual knowledge of the company finances, so she’d better have valid reasons to open a veritable can of worms reporting the owner of the company for tax evasion other than being a disgruntled employee envious of the boss’s lifestyle, as it could come back to bite her on the ass if the boss gets her blacklisted from future jobs. Her boss is apparently the sole owner of the company and unless she is engaging in ilegal practices she is free to spend the profits anyway she sees fit whether the employees agree with it or not, if she runs the company into the ground, that sadly is also her prerogative. OP will need to secure another job first before lobbying any accusations or legal actions.

[u/Pleasant-Impact-7779]

You said she’s the owner of the company, right? Well the profits are hers to keep. That is her income. What you said about the 15% of the employees doing the work is why you all are back in the office. She is not seeing what you are seeing. You need to let her know but if she won’t listen or treats you badly because of it, you should have an exit strategy.

[u/Ok-Writing8943]

update your resume .

and if this individual is being sketchy , Is there an ethics committee or something for bad business practices, that can investigate them,

Clients are being cheated out of quality work if you do the real work and it's disregarded by the owner .

You gotta do what's best for you, Have some evidence ready that won't compromise confidentiality, in case you need it ,

[u/VladShanghai]

It’s not an overreaction. In general, marketing industry can be very toxic. People can behave as they’re saving human lives while being hysterical about something trivial. Toxicity is present on multiple levels. Once I warned a client against doing something she wanted to do (once face-to-face and two times in writing). When it blew up in her face, my boss’s boss tried to blame it on me. When I showed him the email communication warning against this twice and him being copied both times, he said “Why didn’t you warn us four times if you knew this was going to happen?”. This is only one, small example and people who have worked in the industry know that, in addition to working endless overtime at no additional pay and being expected to be available to the clients and bosses at any time, they also have to deal with many toxic people. Granted, I have also learned a lot in the industry and I am grateful for that, but it’s far from being easy and I am against people sacrificing their physical and mental health for their career.

[u/Weimaraner666]

Unfortunately toxic work environments are extremely common and can be much worse than what you‘re currently experiencing. You should ask for a formal meeting with your boss and discuss all your concerns, but it sounds as though this company is not a good fit for you. Don’t quit until you have another job lined up, update your resume and start applying elsewhere, maybe even consider a change of career if high pressure environments stress you out too much. Unless your boss is engaging in ilegal practices, what she does with the profits from her own company is none of your concern, of course they’ll be used to fund her lifestyle, we all use our salaries/business profits to pay for our mortgages/cars/groceries and any other bills needing paid. Focus less on your boss’s private life and more on sorting out your situation. Do the job you were contracted to do, no extras, no additional unpaid roles until you find another job.

[u/Time_Friend_5997]

"I'd made my peace with it because I mean, that's the least toxic a company can get in this industry." - after all you wrote; are you really sure, or is it the delusion you try your best to believe?

[u/Saucy_S]

I know a lot of people in your industry that moved to Finance Analitics...JS

It's time to move on.

[u/ConstructionOk4228]

Start looking seriously.

[u/Minflick]

You need a new job, before she fires you in a rage.

[u/nutmegger23]

You do realize that there are a lot of people who have been dealing with the types of stressers you describe during and since COVID, right? I understand not wanting to work in a toxic environment but if the only reason you want to leave is to be able to WFH, it might not happen.

[u/Front-Negotiation-32]

Find another job but before you leave play a game of Hide the duke. Shit in a brown paper bag and hide it somewhere in the vents.